


shiver

by Navyrants



Category: Ever After High
Genre: F/F, its rated t for language. theres nothing bad in here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 06:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8316709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Navyrants/pseuds/Navyrants
Summary: Briar convinces Raven to skip class with her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Not related to Starlight.

“Excuse me?” You’re not sure you’ve heard correctly. Briar rolls her eyes at you.

“Skip class with me,” she repeats. “You won’t get in trouble for just one absence, and anyway, we have a substitute today and they _never_ take attendance.” She sounds confident, but you‘re still not convinced. You dig through your locker as you try to make up your mind.

In all honesty, you’re not sure why Briar is asking you of all people. Sure, you’re friends, but mostly because of Apple. Even though you’ve rejected your destiny you find it odd that she would seek out her best friend’s villain like this.

But then, you know she’s not all that happy with her own happy ending. You think about Thronecoming, about what you’d thought of her without really thinking about it. You think about the look on her face when she stepped out of your story. You think about how she was so scared to lose everyone that she threw the Storybook down the Well of Wonder.

You think the two of you have a lot to talk about.

Finally, after tucking your textbooks into your locker and keeping only your personal notebook in your bag, you turn to her.

“You’re sure we won’t get caught?” She scoffs at your doubt.

“Of course we won’t. I know places.” The smirk on her lips twists your insides with something other than anxiety, but you don’t have time to decipher it before she’s got a firm hand on your wrist, tugging you through the hallways of the academic building.

She leads you out a side door you’ve never seen before and you quickly realize you’re near the dormitories. _Her room_ , you think as she pulls you inside, _or mine_. But she doesn’t spare a glance for either one as you pass them, instead finding a third secluded door on the top floor. Behind it, there’s a steep flight of stone steps, then another door.

“They always forget to lock it,” she says casually as she pushes it open. It screeches in protest, most likely from disuse. A wind twists its way through the opening, toying with your hair and making both of you shiver. “It’s not as cold once you’re actually out there,” she assures you.

You step onto the roof.

You’re not sure why that seems so strange to you. You’ve been to Wonderland, but standing on top of your dorm is still taboo. The thought makes you giggle.

A glance at Briar as you both step up to the raised ledge of the roof reveals a lopsided sort of grin you’ve never seen her wear before. It’s full of mischief, beautifully complementing the glimmer in her eyes, and it sets your heart racing.

You tear your gaze away, forcing yourself to scan the landscape before she can notice the blush starting to heat your cheeks.

“Wow,” you mumble, breathless. The dorms aren’t the highest point on campus, but that doesn’t seem to limit your view much. The sun isn’t that far above the horizon, and it has yet to burn away all the morning fog that clings to the trees below you.

Briar, you notice out of the corner of your eye, doesn’t seem inclined to observe any of this. She’s got her back to it, elbows on the high ledge as she leans back casually.

“Beautiful, huh?” You know she means the view, but her eyes never leave your face. You clear your throat and nod.

“It really is.” You turn around, matching her posture, and let silence settle between you. She’s still watching you and you’re not sure what to say. You wonder if she’s waiting for you to start the conversation, but then maybe she had her own ulterior motives, like you did. Or maybe everyone else was busy, maybe you were the most likely to agree. Maybe you’re over-thinking it and she asked you on impulse, no other reason.

“Raven.” Briar’s easygoing demeanor evaporates around your name. She’s anxious, no longer meeting your eyes, hands fidgeting with the hem of her oversized sweater. You lean over to gently bump her shoulder with yours, hoping it’ll settle her. It does, briefly, but the stiffness remains, and she seems at a loss for words.

“Why did you ask me to skip with you?” You prompt her, knowing beyond a doubt now that there must be a reason besides a simple whim. “Out of all your friends.” She looks down, caught, but you’re not mad. You had reasons for agreeing. Then she sucks in a breath, tips her head back to stare blankly at the empty sky.

“Alright,” she says lowly, and you admire the way it rumbles out of her throat. “You got me. I just…” She pauses to roll her shoulders. “It feels like there’s a lot we need to talk about, I guess? All that stuff that just piled up for weeks, from Thronecoming to Spring Fairest, to everything that happened in Wonderland. But we never got the chance, or we never bothered, or whatever. But it doesn’t matter, ‘cause we’re gonna talk about it.” Finally, her eyes lock onto yours again, determinedly. “Here and now.”

Your breath catches in your throat at her conviction, a little surprised that she’d had the same reasons for coming up here as you.

“Plus,” she adds, lopsided grin returning, “who wouldn’t want to be on a roof with a cute girl?” You flush, and she laughs, but then the silence is back.

“I’m sorry I took you so lightly before,” you say after a while. It’s not what you meant to start with, but you figure it’s as good a place as any. She turns to face the horizon, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

“Hey, that’s all—” Behind you now, you know, but…

“I should have known better.” She nods, because of course you should have. After all your struggle to overcome the expectations set for you—your destiny, your stereotype—and you go and make assumptions about someone else?

But she’s right too; it’s in the past.

“Well, then I’m sorry too. For throwing the Storybook down the Well, and all the trouble that caused.” A wince twists her face.

“Hey, it helped me uncurse Wonderland, didn’t it?” She laughs at that. You like the sound of it, lower than Apple’s or Maddie’s chime-like giggles; smoother than the cackle your own laugh tends to devolve into. It’s a warm sound.

She’s not looking at you right now, just gazing out to where the trees end in an abrupt, jagged line and the blue of the sky starts its eternal stretch upwards. She’s dressed down from her usual today; a comfortable, oversized sweater in a muted orange that makes you think of windy autumn days, and black leggings with red and white sneakers. Her hair is in a loose braid over her left shoulder, as if she just didn’t want to deal with it today.

Even dressed down, she is drop-dead gorgeous.

Another shiver runs through you; it’s not as cold as the gust of wind when Briar had opened the door, but it’s still a chilly morning. She shifts closer to you so your arms are pressed together; it’s not a lot, but it fills you with warmth anyway.

“Our stories are pretty fucked up, aren’t they?” You laugh shortly and lift yourself to sit on the ledge.

“ _I_ poison one of my best friends and get imprisoned for life and _you_ sleep for a hundred years and wake to an entirely new world where all of your friends are dead.” You’re only half surprised at your own bitterness. “Yeah, I’d say that qualifies as fucked up.” She turns to sit too, but she doesn’t speak. Her pinky hooks around yours and the anger drains out of you.

“It’s just not fair,” you mutter and slump against her shoulder. You feel her nod.

“It was never _fair,_ was it? Forcing kids to live out their parents’ lives. I mean, why do we even do that?” You close your eyes as she rests her cheek on your head. “Anyway.” Her voice is much softer now. “I’m pretty sure this whole destiny thing has been falling apart since before we were born.”

You think about Cerise and Ramona and their parents. You think about how they’re probably not even the first. How many others have opposed or simply ignored their destinies without being caught? Briar is right, the rebellion didn’t start with you. You only made it a public affair. You sit up straight.

“But now we have the chance to change things for good.” You meet her eyes—she matches your pride and defiance, but you don’t see a trace of the apprehension you feel. “We’re writing our own stories now.”

“No one’s done that since the very first fairytales.” She sounds excited.

“We can _do_ —” You shake your head, smiling. “— _Whatever_ we want.” And there’s that glimmer in her eye again, mouth pulling up at just one corner.

“And what do you want, Raven?” The seriousness is all gone now, her voice is playful, and you don’t know which of you leaned in but you can see all the faint freckles on her nose and every fleck of color in her eyes. You lick your lips, and with a sudden burst of confidence you answer.

“I want to kiss you.”

The contact is soft, tentative. You feel your breath hitch in your throat, and you feel her smirk against your mouth. The kiss breaks off as you giggle, then you’re both laughing giddily, faces close enough for your noses to brush.

“A bold new destiny, Ms. Queen.” She tips her chin up to meet your lips again. You sigh into it, and when you pull away, she rests her forehead against yours.

“I think I’ll hold onto this one.”


End file.
